Grand Tribunal

The World Council Grand Tribunal, also called WCGT, is the highest body of the World Council. The WCGT functions as a high court of last resort and deals as an international arbiter explicitly with matters of nuclear warfare, proliferation, and threats to humanity and the environment enforced by the power of sanctions, trade embargoes, and other forms of economic police powers such as asset liquidity controls. Since 1997, this mandate has included environmental protection. There have been calls to expand the body's powers and mandates, but so far such efforts have been unsuccessful.

History

1997 "Environmental Protection" Mandate

Role

The World Council Charter created the Tribunal as a "final, international arbiter evenly-balanced between our divergent political economies that would serve as a neutral and fair forum to resolve disputes involving nuclear weapons, technology, or threats."

Procedure

Procedurally, the Tribunal is empowered to gather evidence, investigate, and produce a finding of fact. This is done through the commissioning of an international team of credentialed experts who are citizens of good standing from every nation on the Tribunal and who travel, investigate, and collect information for a final report.

Each WCGT "report" may or may not be binding formally or practically.

A resolution report is a finding of fact in a claim that finds clear fault with one party or the other and issues a "resolutionary solution" (or set of them) that are enforced by the Tribunal's police powers.

A resolution report may have both a majority and dissenting minority opinions, but a report is binding only if a majority of the Tribunal agree to its findings and conclusions.

A inconclusive report is a finding of fact that either clears or condemns both parties of fault and thus dismisses the claim.

An inconclusive report, if both parties found to be are at fault, may not exercise a "resolutionary solution" and may not use its police powers (see Clean hands legal doctrine).

Alternatively, the Tribunal can simply dismiss the claim without investigating.

Enforcement powers

Depending on the severity of the issue (nuclear proliferation, nuclear war between two powers, or possible nuclear holocaust between the Cold War blocs), the Tribunal may elect to enforce its resolutionary solution with any of the following "police powers":

Notes:
1. The last power was a police power of the last resort and to be invoked in an extraordinary situation where a member's action or actions provoked what the Charter calls "a substantial risk" of nuclear war between the Anticommunist and Communist blocs that would lead to nuclear apocalypse. Throughout the Tribunal's history, even during nuclear crises between the blocs, the Tribunal has never considered this enforcement power due to the extreme risk it would bring.

Membership

The Tribunal was founded as an "even-balanced" forum for the two Cold War blocs to bring claims for arbitration regarding violations of World Council resolutions on nuclear issues. As such, from 1956 until the end of the Cold War in 2001, the Tribunal was organized by four seats automatically assigned to the Anticommunists, and four to the Communists, with the last (and the seat of the presiding chief of the body) always being given to a well-respected Non-aligned power.

After 2001, the Tribunal's bloc/faction system was reorganized to reflect the new CDI-PECA/RCO world divide.

In 2011, the Tribunal saw a deal emerge where the Skanderan Union, as recognition for its rising geopolitical prominence, was afforded a seat on the Tribunal. Both CDI and RCO were reduced to 3 seats apiece, and the last seat was allotted for an independent power both major blocs could agree on.

First term

The members of the Tribunal serve 5-year terms "en blanc." The first term of the WCGT (1956 - 1961) was negotiated among each prospective bloc (Anticommunist and Communist), who were each assigned four seats to divvy up amongst themselves while the vlocs directly negotiated who they both agreed to as the Non-aligned power to head the body.

1960 election reforms

By 1960, there was growing dissatisfaction and unease with the appointment model of filling out the Tribunal, and the World Council narrowly passed a resolution in 1960, WC Resolution 017, reforming selection rules to direct elections within each bloc. The Anticommunists, Communists, and Non-aligns all voted within their caucuses to fill their allotted seats.

"Permanent members"

While no nation was granted permanent seats, over time certain nations continually retained "their" seat each term.

During the Cold War era, the DSRA was the one Communist member that always retained their seat. Although the Republic of Anikatia was the legal successor to the dissolved DSRA, Anikatia has been denied in its bids to regain the seat. This has engendered resentment among Anikatian nationalist circles. Analysts note that in the 2011 deal that granted the SU its first "seat", all three blocs on the Tribunal blocked Anikatia's bid to take the last seat occupied by Tippercommon. President Sui Anyi's government has issued foreign policy papers, among which include the goal of "reclaiming" the so-called "Anikatian seat."

Both Emmeria and Belhavia retained their seats continually since the Tribunal's creation until the present. This has endeared a colloquialism referring to these two nations as the so-called "Permanent Two" on the Tribunal no matter the change in geopolitics. Before 2001, this was referred to as the "Permanent Three", including the then-DSRA.